5 Best Korean Restaurants in Queenstown (Mapo88 Reviews, 2025)

Queenstown, New Zealand has a lot of tourists from all over the world, so you'll find a lot of foreigners in Queenstown Korean restaurants these days. Even though the menus are explained in a friendly way, it's not easy to make a choice when there are so many unfamiliar dishes. Here are my top picks for Korean food in Queenstown.



Best Korean food in Queenstown

There are two Korean restaurants in downtown Queenstown, New Zealand. Kimchi, which has been serving Korean food for a long time, and Mapo88, a newer restaurant that opened last year. Queenstown isn't a big city, so it's easy to find both restaurants within a few minutes' walk.



Mapo88 Restaurant Menu

I use I've been frequenting Mapo88 since it opened last year. About half a dozen times now, when I'm close to work and I'm really craving Korean food, I've gone there to satisfy my craving.

The Mapo88 restaurant menu consists of Entree, Meal, Soup, SSAM, Chicken, Anju, and Drink. For foreigners, I can understand everything else, but I think the SSAM and Anju part might be hard to understand.



SSAM .

Korean SSAM Culture Vegetables

SSAM menu is basically the concept of placing meat or squid on top of the vegetables in the picture and wrapping the vegetables around it. Especially when eating samgyeopsal (pork), Koreans like to eat it with vegetables like this and say that they wrap it.



Anju

Koreans basically like to eat with food when they drink alcohol. They rarely drink alcohol alone. Anju shares what you can eat when you're drinking.in the following example.

If you're curious about the Mapo88 menu for Queenstown's Korean food recommendations, you can check out the link below for photos, descriptions, and all-important prices.



5 Best Korean Food Recommendations

When you come to a restaurant to try Korean food in Queenstown, what should you try? It's hard to make recommendations when it comes to food because everyone's tastes vary so much, but we'll give you some ideas.

  • Bibimbap (Bibimbap)
  • Pork bone Soup (Pork bone Soup)
  • Stir-Fried beef (Stir-Fried beef)
  • Miso stew (Soybean stew)
  • Yangyum chicken (Yangyum chicken)



Bibimbap For Vegetarian

Mapo 88 Restaurant Bibimbap

If, If you're a vegetarian, I recommend Bibimbab. By default, bibimbap contains meat, but you can substitute other vegetables for the meat. You can also request that the meat be left out.

You start with rice on the bottom, followed by various kinds of vegetables and mushrooms, and eggs on top. Then you add as much sauce as you want, specially made for bibimbap, and mix the rice, vegetables, and other ingredients together.



Pork bone Soup (Pork bone Soup)

Queenstown Mapo 88 Restaurant Bone Haejangguk

Bone broth is a soup made by simmering pork bones with the meat attached for a long time. The broth is really good. It's not super spicy, but it's basically a broth with a little bit of heat.

Koreans love to eat the meat on the bone and then dip the accompanying rice in a soup to go with it. If you try it once and find it delicious, it's so addictive that you'll look for bone haejangguk every time you go to a Korean restaurant.





Stir-Fried beef (Stir-Fried beef)

Queenstown Mapo 88 Restaurant Beef Bulgogi

Sobulgogi is one of the favorite foods of foreigners in Korea. It is made of beef and various vegetables stir-fried with special seasonings. You can usually eat it with the rice that comes with it.

You can basically taste the sweetness in beef bulgogi, and the flavors blend together in your mouth, especially when you eat the rice, meat, and vegetables all at once. For reference, the difference between the similarly named Tteokbaegi Bulgogi is that the beef bulgogi is in a soup, and you can taste the soup together.



Miso stew (Soybean stew)

Queenstown Mapo 88 Restaurant Miso Jjigae

Miso jjigae is a Korean miso-based stew, and it's a favorite Korean dish, along with kimchi stew. You can make it spicy or savory, depending on your preference.

It's basically beef, mushrooms, various vegetables, and tofu, as described above, and it's really delicious with rice. Plus, you're getting tofu and miso, which are good for you, so it's a healthy dish.





Yangyum chicken (Yangyum chicken)

Queenstown Mapo 88 Restaurant Spicy Chicken

To really enjoy Korean food, you have to eat chicken. There are so many different types of chicken in Korea, and it seems like every day is a new recipe day.

Nonetheless, for decades, Koreans have said that their favorite Korean chicken has been the basic original and this spicy version.

Marinated chicken is basic chicken tossed in a sauce made with gochujang, garlic, water chestnuts, soy sauce, and more. Once you taste the sweet seasoning, you'll be glad you ordered it. The chicken goes especially well with beer, which is called chimac in Korea.



Queenstown Mapo88 Review (Updated 2025)

Mapo 88 Restaurant Main Entrance
Inside Mapo 88 Restaurant

I've been going to Mapo 88 since last year, but I've been on a bit of a hiatus lately. Then a few days ago, I was craving Korean food again, so I went to Mapo 88, and something felt a little different. I felt like the atmosphere was brighter and more pleasant. Was it my mood?


1) All-you-can-eat basic side dishes

Mapo88 Basic Side Dishes

When you come to Korea, you can expect to find side dishes at any restaurant, but at foreign Korean restaurants, they are often not served, or if they are, they are served only once, due to the cost of ingredients.

But, Queenstown Korean restaurant Mapo88 serves unlimited basic side dishes. Try the basic banchan, and if you want more, ask for a refill and they'll bring it back to you. It's all Korean style.




2) Different menus

Queenstown Korean food recommendations

We used to have a single black menu board, but now the menu has been changed to a booklet format. The menu categories are organized neatly and there are just the right number of menus on a single page.


3) Bibimbap and Bone Haejangguk

Mapo88 Bibimbap

I ordered bibimbap for the first time, and it was delicious. The vegetables were delicious, and the secret sauce was neither too spicy nor too sweet. So I ordered a bowl of bibimbap!

For reference, the vegetarian option I recommended above is bibimbap.

There's a little bit to be said for bone broth soup, and it seems to vary a bit depending on the chef making it. This time, there was a little more chili oil, and the sprinkling of sesame seeds at the end was a different look than usual.

The flavors were good, especially the broth, which was deep and rich. I ate the bones and rolled up the rice, which was also delicious.

Mapo88 Restaurant Event QR Code

Oh, and Queenstown Korean restaurant Mapo 88 is having an event where you can get a free Coke or Sprite if you write a Google review. You can find the QR code on the menu board.


혹시, 퀸스타운 머물다가, 오클랜드에 가시는 분들 중 맛있는 한식당을 찾으신다면 오클랜드 시내에 있는 놀부네 식당을 추천 드립니다. 가성비도 좋고, 음식도 정말 맛있습니다.


Finalize

Today I'm updating my review of Mapo 88 with a recommendation for Korean food in Queenstown. If you're in Queenstown and want to try something other than the usual steak, burgers, and chips, I recommend Korean food.

If you've ever wondered what the heck Korean food is, or what TikTok is referring to as Korean food in a YouTube video, you'll want to come to Queenstown Korean restaurant Mapo 88 to experience it. Thank you for reading this article.

Similar Posts